ALBON

The night, according to Bradley Albon, began at a motel in Brantford, where Albon, 17, and an older man were drinking vodka, taking LSD and watching pornography.

This was not unusual for them. Nor was the banter that began between them about what they knew about the death of 15-year-old Cindy McCauley more than two years before, on Dec. 1, 1983.

Albon, who was 14 at the time of her disappearance, and McCauley were classmates and friends. They and another friend were supposed to meet up the night she disappeared; Albon says she never showed up and he went home. She was found dead three days later in a shallow part of Mohawk Lake, a concrete block on her back weighing down her small frame, bent as if kneeling in prayer.

The tone of the conversation between the two men grew more serious, and at one point, Albon says, the older man, to whom he was not related, left the room and went to a payphone.

Shortly after, a man whom Albon says he had never met before and didn't realize at first was a lawyer, arrived and took him to police station. The lawyer told the officer at the front desk that Albon was there to confess to the murder of Cindy McCauley.

At 7:33 a.m. that morning, Albon did just that, signing a two-line confession. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter months later and was sentenced to 10 years's imprisonment, knocked down to seven on appeal.

Almost 30 years later, Albon, 46, is now seeking to have his confession found to be false, made up by a drug-tripping teenager desperate to escape a life filled with abuse. He believes the confession should not have been accepted by the police or Crown.

Besides wanting to clear his name, Albon believes his actions obstructed the investigation into McCauley's death, and he wants her real killer brought to justice.

His affidavit on his confession is part of an application recently filed by the Osgoode Hall Innocence Project seeking to make it easier for wrongful conviction cases to be investigated.

It will also form part of Albon's application for the Justice Minister to review his conviction for a crime he says he did not commit.

"If that confession was scrutinized or reviewed by the court in my opinion they would have struck the guilty plea because the confession simply doesn't provide telling or probative evidence of Mr. Albon's guilt. It is bereft of detail…It simply appears to be made-up," says Albon's lawyer Alan Young, the law professor who has overseen the Innocence Project program at Osgoode Hall since 1997.

THE CONFESSION

It is 7:30 a.m. at the Brantford police station on March 8, 1986. Albon waives his right as a youth to have an adult present apart from his lawyer John Renwick, according to a transcript of the proceedings.

The detective leading the interview, Ron Belair, writes down a question on a piece of foolscap:

"We are presently investigating the death of Cindy McCauley. This young girl disappeared on or about November 28, 1983. Her body was eventually located on December 1, 1983. What, if anything can you tell me of this?"

Albon wrote: "I arranged to meet her that night then we ended up at the park, there we talked, then for some reason I got angry with her, I grabbed her and put her under the water."

Belair wrote a second question: "Can you tell me how this occurrence happened?"

Albon wrote: "What I said before is what happened."

According to the transcript, Belair goes on to ask Albon more questions about what happened that night: Do you recall what brought the argument on?

"Not really," Albon says.

Albon says he put the block on her back because of "paranoia."

When asked why he came forward now, Albon said: "I just feel it's the right thing to do. I realized what I had done."

"Playing on your nerves a little bit?" the other detective, Raymond Fitzpatrick says.

"Yeah, it got on my conscience."

Albon wouldn't give a reason why it happened or what provoked him, just saying: "anger."

He also said he couldn't recall what he did with his clothes which would have been muddy.

He didn't answer a question about which way McCauley's body was facing.

He did give an accurate description of how her body was found, saying he took her about four feet out into the water and that the water reached the top of his calves. He said he left McCauley's body kneeling, with her legs tucked underneath her. He says now that he knew this based on a combination of rumours and guessing. "I guess she just ended up there."

An assessment of the confession ordered by the Innocence Project by York University psychology professor Timothy Moore criticizes the use of "highly leading and suggestive questions" that he says compromised the reliability of Albon's answers.

At the end of the interview Fitzpatrick says:

"Do you feel better now? For having told us?"

Albon says: "Yes."

The judge stated in his sentencing decision that Albon had been a prime suspect but was not arrested until he consulted with his lawyer and admitted to the killing.

"It would appear that without his confession, the conviction would have been much more difficult, if not indeed impossible," the judge said.

He noted Albon was involved with drugs and alcohol abuse, suffered from "chronic hostility" and was associating with an older man who may have had an "adverse influence" on his life.

After he was sentenced, McCauley's mother told a reporter that she wished Albon were dead at the bottom of the lake.

A WAY OUT?

"It was extremely stupid," Albon said of the confession in a recent interview.

"At that point in my life I looked at it as a way out," he said. "I expected three years in the system, I expected my education to be able to continue. I expected a new start with a new life, but it all threw up in my face pretty violently."

In the years leading up to it, Albon says in his affidavit, he was being sexually abused and prostituted by the man he was with before he confessed. He'd attempted suicide twice. Confessing seemed like an opportunity to "escape … reality," he said.

While he admits it was his decision to confess, he believes he was taken advantage of by the police and that they were aware he was high prior to confessing.

Albon says that after his confession he repeatedly told his lawyer, Renwick, it was not true and asked him how he could get out of it. He says now that he regrets not speaking out in court, instead pleading guilty.

"It would appear that without his confession, the conviction would have been much more difficult, if not indeed impossible," the judge said in his sentencing decision.

Renwick, reached by the Star, said he would not speak about the Albon case. Renwick also did not speak to a Brantford police officer assigned to look into Albon's allegations.

According to Belair's notes from the time of the confession, Renwick told police he got a call from Albon during the night. He said Albon told him he wanted to confess and that he had held McCauley underwater. (Albon maintains he never met Renwick before that night.)

In court, he said Albon contacted him at 4:30 a.m. and that they went to the police station at 6 a.m.

According to notes taken by the Innocence Project of their interview with Renwick in 2012, Renwick said he got a call from the older man Albon was with that night — not Albon himself — informing him Albon wanted to confess to McCauley's murder. He said he had never met either of the two before.

Renwick said that when he arrived at the motel Albon told him he wanted to confess because he believed he would soon be arrested and he thought there would be some legal advantage to being a youth. Renwick told Albon his understanding of the law was wrong and that he should wait until he was arrested — but Albon insisted.

After the plea of manslaughter was offered by the Crown, Renwick said, Albon offered a more detailed confession including the motive provided in court — that Albon argued with McCauley about his sexual preferences. Renwick added that he had been concerned Albon concocted his confession to cover for someone else, but Albon denied this.

The two investigating officers, Belair and Fitzpatrick (who went on to become police chief), are now retired. Belair did not respond to requests for comment. Fitzpatrick could not be reached for comment.

WHY NOW?

Albon estimates he spent about five years in prison. After he got out, he lived in London, Ont., then Toronto, where he worked as a prostitute and in pornography. Later, he moved to Montreal and is now back in Ontario, unemployed.

After reconnecting with a school friend, Brandi Hutchings, they began talking about what happened to McCauley, the tough, fiery and troubled teen who Hutchings says had been her best friend since Grade 1. Albon said he wanted people to know the truth about him and what happened.

After meeting Hutchings, with whom he now lives, "I tried to be more responsible with my life, to conduct myself as expected," Albon said.

He said he began feeling accountable to the people around him — and to McCauley herself.

"I think I served time for the obstruction of justice. I definitely have to be accountable for being an immature moron, there is no doubt about that. "

In 2009 he told the Brantford police that his confession was false. In 2012, his case was accepted by the Innocence Project.

Brantford police spokesperson Det. Dave Wiedrick confirmed in an interview that Albon did make a statement to the police in 2009 and the case was classified "closed pending" — which he said usually means that a statement has been given but hasn't been corroborated or substantiated.

Then, earlier this year, the Crown office asked that Albon be interviewed again. The police are now awaiting further instructions from the Crown, Wiedrick said.

Wiedrick said he could not comment on the specifics of the case, but did say he has not come across a situation in his 29-year career where "the person confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty, then says 'I didn't do it.'"

"I just don't understand," he said. "Where you do you look for any misleading evidence ... How do you disprove it now? It's a very difficult situation."

Wiedrick noted that both of the detectives are retired and it has been nearly 30 years since the case was closed, which may have implications for what evidence has been kept.

"We have a person who confessed and pled guilty, so as far as the Brantford police is concerned, this case had been closed," he said.

THE LEGAL CASE

Three years have gone by and new documents — like Fitzpatrick's police notes — are still being found and provided to the Innocence Project team.

For law professor Alan Young, this illustrates how investigations into wrongful conviction are an afterthought in the justice system.

"We started three years ago with the Albon case and still have not received complete disclosure of all materials, and every time we approach an official we are told they can't speak to us unless the Crown law office gives their consent," he said. In July a request to speak to the Brantford detective assigned to Albon's case was denied by the Crown, he said.

This prompted Young to file an application to formalize the process of requesting documents in suspected wrongful conviction cases, "without having to rely on the goodwill of officials and a handshake."

A court order will get a much faster response than a polite request, he says. He also wants a ruling that Crown consent is not required to speak to officials such as police officers, to remove their control over the process.

The night, according to Bradley Albon, began at a motel in Brantford, where Albon, 17, and an older man were drinking vodka, taking LSD and watching pornography.